Technology - Google News

Microsoft Just Dealt A Striking New Blow To Zoom With This Killer Feature - Forbes
Google faces $5 billion lawsuit for tracking people in incognito mode - CNET
Don't buy a looted iPhone, it will never work - AppleInsider

Microsoft Just Dealt A Striking New Blow To Zoom With This Killer Feature - Forbes

Posted: 03 Jun 2020 03:05 AM PDT

Microsoft Teams Zoom alternative features — Microsoft has just dealt a new blow to video conferencing app Zoom with plans for a killer Teams ... [+] feature.
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Microsoft has just dealt a new blow to video conferencing app Zoom with plans for a killer Teams feature—an expansion of its gallery view so you can see up to 49 participants on a call.

Zoom already allows you to see up to 49 people in the gallery view, but currently, Microsoft Teams only gives you the option for nine. It's certainly an exciting move that will make Teams an option for multiple groups such as schools, business meetings and exercise classes. So, how soon will it happen?

Frustratingly, we may have to wait a while—at the moment there isn't a timeline, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which first revealed Microsoft's plans to take on Zoom. I suspect the lack of timeline is deliberate so Microsoft has the extra time to ensure this Teams feature works as well as it needs to before launch.

Gallery view expansion would be Microsoft Teams' killer feature

When the ability to view nine people on Microsoft Teams was added in May, users took to its forums to ask for an expansion to the gallery view. "Nine is okay but I run a dance school and need to see as many of my students at once to help them with how to improve. At the moment I have resorted to pinning and unpinning different people to try and cycle through them. Not ideal," said one Teams user.

"Please, more than 3x3, it needs to match Zoom," another commented.

Microsoft responded by saying it realised 3x3 wasn't "good enough" and said it was working on adding more visible participants to the calls. "We are continuing to work to include more videos during a meeting, as well as enabling support for mobile devices," Alex from Teams engineering said.

Zoom V Microsoft Teams

The COVID-19 crisis has seen much of the world staying at home, and this is likely to continue at least into the near future. It has meant video conferencing apps have had to make themselves fully functional for all types of users, and quickly.

Zoom was effectively the first casualty of this sudden surge in video conferencing users, as incidents of Zoom bombing grew—along with security and privacy issues.

Lots of people are looking for an alternative to Zoom, but no app has quite cut it in terms of functionality yet. Zoom has just reported its financial results for the first quarter, seeing its revenue grow an astonishing 169% during the pandemic, according to CNBC.

Microsoft wants a piece of that for Teams—and who can blame the company. But if it wants people to choose its app instead of Zoom for their meetings, chats and exercise classes, it needs the functionality, and fast.

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Google faces $5 billion lawsuit for tracking people in incognito mode - CNET

Posted: 03 Jun 2020 08:11 AM PDT

Google headquarters in Mountain View, California — Google headquarters sprawls across a large campus in Mountain View, California.
Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google faces a proposed class action lawsuit that accuses the tech giant of invading people's privacy and tracking internet use even when browsers are set to "private" mode. The suit, filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that Google violates wiretapping and privacy laws by continuing to "intercept, track, and collect communications" even when people use Chrome's incognito mode and other private web browser modes.

"Google tracks and collects consumer browsing history and other web activity data no matter what safeguards consumers undertake to protect their data privacy," reads the complaint. The search giant surreptitiously collects data through Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager, website plug-ins and other applications, including mobile apps, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit seeks at least $5 billion from Google and its parent company, Alphabet, according to Reuters. The complaint says the proposed class may include "millions" of Google users and is looking for damages of at least $5,000 for each individual.

Google said it disputes the claims and plans to defend itself vigorously against them.

"Incognito mode in Chrome gives you the choice to browse the internet without your activity being saved to your browser or device," said Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda. "As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity during your session."

Plaintiffs in the case are being represented by the law firm Boies Schiller & Flexner.

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Don't buy a looted iPhone, it will never work - AppleInsider

Posted: 03 Jun 2020 04:32 AM PDT

As the number of iPhones stolen in looting increases, thieves are going to try selling them — but Apple has disabled all of them.

There is a reason professional thieves steal iPhones from people far less than before, and even more reason why they rarely take demo units from Apple Stores. They know that Apple Store demo iPhones will not work for the end-user.

While opportunists are using the current protest marches as a chance to loot and raid Apple Stores, they are finding that they cannot do anything with the iPhones they grab off those tables.

For the last full decade, Apple has locked these demo units down so efficiently that the thief can only make any money by selling people iPhones sight-unseen by mail or pretending it needs charging in a face-to-face transaction, or breaking it up for parts.

There are many ways customers can be legitimately buying a secondhand iPhone face-to-face. If you go this route, make certain to see it, switch it on, unlock it yourself with the seller's passcode, and check the iCloud lock activation status before paying anything. This is because all iPhones in all Apple Stores, right from the start, have special software that assists in not just periodically wiping the phone while on the floor, but locks them down completely if they leave the Apple Store premises.

If you pick up a looted iPhone, the device is not shy about telling you that it has been stolen from an Apple Store.

"This device has been disabled and is being tracked," it says. "Local authorities will be alerted."

Disappointed thieves have been posting on social media that their stolen iPhones are blocked like this. Apple puts all this effort into protecting its iPhones, and looters — or those unfortunate enough to have bought one — just identify themselves as having one of these pilfered devices on Twitter.

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